


Hanahaki Field

by PastelPinkProse



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Morality | Patton Sanders, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Summer Vacation, Virgil is demiromantic, not parts of Thomas, since the sides are human in this AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2020-04-06 07:39:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19058203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelPinkProse/pseuds/PastelPinkProse
Summary: Logan's town is known for its high rates of Hanahaki disease. Sufferers go to Hanahaki Field, where far too many flowers grow, and the ground is littered with notes and other things that remind people of those they love. Logan decides to study the field over his summer break. What he finds becomes personal very quickly.





	1. Logan's Project

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to start writing this fic for pride month. I would tag the pairings but the tagging system is being difficult and now I'm questioning which ones I'm going to go with. This will be my first fic with multiple chapters, so wish me luck!
> 
> Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from one-sided love, where the patient coughs up flower petals.

 Logan became enamored with various topics over the course of his life: space, dinosaurs, fruit preserves, the usual. Every summer break he could remember, he latched on to a new interest. He would scour every source of information he could find. The local librarian once jokingly asked him if he would ever run out of things to ask questions about. Logan worried that he had. That was until he remembered the flower field his town was famous for.

 

 The small town of Sanders was somewhere in the ~~pretty-much-rural~~ Midwestern USA. That meant that A. There was almost nothing interesting to do and B. The town became known for something most wouldn't consider positive. For Sanders, that was its pining problem. As much as Logan wanted to move away as soon as he graduated high school (nowhere extraordinarily special, Florida perhaps), he knew that nowhere else would Hanahaki disease be treated as such a... normal thing. Unrequited love happened everywhere. He knew that, but not everyone who felt it got Hanahaki. At least, not anywhere but in Sanders.

 

  Standing in the middle of Hanahaki Field was an odd experience for Logan. He was careful not to step on any of the flowers. He took notes of the locations of the flowers. Sufferers seemed to pick out a personal spot to let their flowers grow. Some were piles of petals and seeds. Others had full blossoms. Select piles had seeds that sprouted into young plants. Those who had never witnessed the disease thought it was bloody. Logan saw it in a much less tragic light. He knew classmates who kept packs of Kleenexes on their desks, coughed petals into them when needed, and continued their work. Logan should probably have more sympathy, but Hanahaki didn't surprise him anymore. Logan and his friends had once discussed who was most likely get the disease. 

 

  _"We know  you wouldn't be it,"  Roman said to Logan. " I don't think you'd fall in love unless you had, I don't know, calculated  the success rate."  Logan couldn't argue with that logic. "And you,"  Roman pointed a finger at Virgil lounging near Patton on Roman's couch. " You, my demiromantic friend, only feel romantic attraction-"_

 

_"After I'm emotionally attached, yeah,"  Virgil interrupted. "But that doesn't mean it won't happen."  Virgil went back to braiding Patton's copper-colored hair while blowing his own purple hair out of his eyes. Roman pressed his hand to his chin._

 

_"If you think about it," Roman said," We're all more likely to get it than most people. You guys are the only others I know around here that are, well, into guys. With us being best friends, that doesn't leave us with a lot of romantic options."  Roman was right. Their school district was tiny. Everyone knew everybody else, including who was out of the closet. Many didn't have supportive families, Patton being one of them. They could have more options if people didn't have to worry about their parents' disapproval._

 

_"So we've ruled out Logan and Virgil," Roman continued. "Looks like it's down to you and me, Pat."  Patton perked up. His newly-braided hair brushed his shoulders._

 

_" I don't know about one-sided stuff for you, Ro," Patton said. "I'm sure whoever you set your heart after would be absolutely Roman-ced by you." Roman giggled while  Logan and Virgil stifled groaning at the pun._

 

_"We have no way of proving that, so I say it's a tie," proclaimed Logan. Roman let out a dramatic, offended gasp._

 

_" I second that,"  Virgil said. Roman continued his theatrical behavior while Patton laughed._

 

   Logan could see Patton's house in the distance. It was on top of a hill behind a couple of fields, but it was there. No one had heard much from Patton since school got out for summer. Logan tried not to think about it. He let his eyes linger on the house in the distance, then went back to taking notes. He saw an array of sentimental objects and letters among the flowers. He wrote down their locations. Logan didn't read the letters' contents.

 

  When he came back the next day, the first of June, he saw a new addition: A small paper pride flag with the words "Happy Pride!" written in glitter pen. It was stuck next to a pile of light blue Forget-Me-Not flowers. Logan didn't want to think about it.

 

 

 


	2. After the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm rips through the town, but doesn't seem to touch the field. Logan finds out more about the disease through a story from the past.

 Rain was nice. It provided  soothing background noise while Logan gathered his findings within the safety of his living room. Rain was not so appreciated, however, when it took away the electricity. Before Logan had time to save the document he'd been working on, the internet was gone as well. Logan took that as his sign to go to sleep.

 

 He stared up at the ceiling as he lay in bed. There was so much he didn't know about the disease that had been all around him for so long. The field alone couldn't provide him with the information he needed. Logan needed to find another source. Rain pattered on the roof above him. Claps of thunder shook the air, and Logan could see flashes of lightning through his windows. His eyes closed and he started to sink into sleep. He could find what he required in the morning.

 

  Daybreak came softly. A gentle drizzle of rain slowly disappeared from the sky. The storm was over. It seemed to do no damage to property, but tree branches were scattered on Logan's neighbors' lawns. Logan saw at least one trampoline that had been flipped over and displaced. Thankfully, the power was back. The internet was still down, and was estimated to stay that way until the next day. Logan put on some casual clothes. He tucked his blond hair under his Cogitating Cap (an actual baseball cap with those words on it, not a figurative thinking cap). Logan told his parents where he was going, walking out of the house with purpose.

 

  The ground was soft from the rain. Logan managed to avoid stepping in the mud on his way to the field. That's where the mud stopped. The field hadn't been touched by the rain. None of the flowers or letters had been displaced. Even the fragile flag from earlier was still there. The piles of petals hadn't moved. Logan made note of this. Walking away from the field, his mind presented him with more questions than answers.

 

  The library's sidewalk shined, the rainwater gathering in puddles. Logan took off his hat. He walked into the library, and was immediately greeted by the librarian behind the front desk.

 

  "Hello, Logan. You seem to be the only one who thought of spending today at the library."

 

  "The weather has been less than ideal."

 

  The librarian nodded. "Is there anything I can help you with?," she asked.

 

  Logan pulled out his notes. "I've actually been studying Hanahaki Field. I can't find much information, especially with the internet down."

 

  The librarian had a knowing look in her eyes. "Did you..." she tried to gain a casual tone. "Did you see two piles of daffodils?"

 

  Logan looked over his sketch of the field. "Yes," he said in surprise. He pointed to the two labeled spots with a bracket connecting them. "That's one of the only instances of the same type of flower appearing more than once."

 

  "One is mine, and the other belongs to my husband," the librarian said. Logan looked at her in surprise. "That must be confusing. That's how I know that the love doesn't necessarily have to be truly one-sided for Hanahaki to happen." In response to Logan's puzzled look, she added,"Those it happens to have to  _think_ the one they love doesn't feel the same way. I could tell you my story if you have time."

 

  Logan was already readying another sheet of paper. "Yes, I have time." The librarian sat down on a couch with a stack of newspapers on one end. Logan joined her. "I hope you don't mind me taking notes," Logan said.

 

  "I don't mind. This is an old story, after all." She took a deep breath. "I began- oh this is what we used to call it- spitting flowers the summer before my senior year. This guy didn't even seem to like me. I think school was about to start up again when I was in the field. I was in my normal spot, when I saw somebody else near me. It was him, and he also had daffodils. That should've told me something right away. He asked me, 'Who?'. I knew what he meant. I said I would tell him if he told me who it was for him. He confessed. So did I.  The feeling of the flowers dissolving in my throat was amazing. I was so relieved. It turned out the reason we had the same flower was that we fell in love at the same time. We just thought the other person didn't feel the same way." 

 

  Logan talked to her for a little while longer. "Do you know anything else about the field?"

 

  "It always gets more flowers around this time. Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

 

  "Like summer break?"

 

  "Exactly. I did know some people who had their flowers change as the love they felt did."

 

  Logan wrote that down. He thanked the librarian for her help. He walked home. New flowers were being added to the field he was unaware of, but should be worried about. Of course people should be concerned if their friends were suffering. One was leaving Bleeding Heart blossoms in Hanahaki Field. The other shoved red roses into their wastebasket, determines to deal with them later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was just a large serving of foreshadowing, so not total filler. If you don't know what Bleeding Heart flowers are, you should look them up. I used to be mildly obsessed with them. I have to admit that's probably just because of their cool name, though.


	3. Bruised Egos and Bleeding Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The disease Roman once romanticized seems less beautifully tragic when it happens to him. It just makes him... sad. He runs into Patton's younger brother, Dean at the field.
> 
> Virgil calls Patton for advice. Maybe Patton would know a good way to get the taste of roses out of his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first chapter with Deceit ( named Dean in this AU). I couldn't think of any really creative names for him.

  Roman often wondered what this field looked like. Now he knew. He didn't take in the details of his environment, though: he was too busy staring at the pile of flowers near his feet. When the first blossom came out of his mouth that morning, he was startled by the odd shape. After searching through his old copy of the Hanahaki Encyclopedia, Roman discovered they were Bleeding Hearts. It was fittingly melodramatic, representing both passionate and rejected love. Roman certainly felt rejected, and he couldn't think of a timehe  _wasn't_ passionate about something. It all made sense. At least that part did. The flowers had been red at first, but the newer ones were purple. No matter how much he tried to push the one he longed for out of his mind, he just couldn't do it. The harder he tried, the more vividly violet the flowers became.

 

  When he thought no more would come, Roman straightened his back. He stood upright with his hands on his hips. Then, he saw someone staring right at him. It was Patton's younger brother Dean, who looked like a deer in the headlights. How long had he been there?

 

  "What brings you here?", Roman asked him. He doubted he would get a truthful answer.

 

  Dean lost his shocked look. He tried his best to sound confident. "Patton lost something of his here. I'm looking for it for him."

 

  Roman was unsure if he should believe that. "That's very kind of you," he said trying to keep harshness out of his voice. Patton told Roman his brother looked up to him. Dean admitted once that he wished Roman was his brother, rather than Patton (which of course led to teasing between the siblings). "I must be going," Roman said. Dean waved to him as he walked away. 

 

  Roman walked briskly. The street glowed from rainwater. That was odd. He hadn't noticed any puddles or mud while he was at the field. Roman made his way to the local general store. He bought a new notebook, a pack of pencils, and a moderately healthy snack. He thanked the cashier. Once he was home, Roman went to his bedroom with his purchases. With his sharp pencil he wrote an even sharper poem about his emotions. The words came easily, and Roman felt a little bit better by the time he filled up some of the notebooks pages. He could be proud of his creativity, even if he didn't feel like was much else to be proud of.

 

* * *

 

 

  Virgil put his headphones down, frustrated. Why were there so many love songs, and why did they all seem to be about  _him_? He brushed a rose petal off his lips. He took a few seconds to look at it, then threw it in the trash. Roses, red roses that symbolized love, it didn't get more generic than that. The flower could've given him some other clue, but no. His crush had to be a huge sap. He was so cliche, stuck in fairy tales and fantasy worlds, singing and dancing at times that didn't call for it... and Virgil loved him. Virgil tried to clear the lump in his throat. He needed to tell somebody. Logan was his first thought. He was an incredibly smart problem-solver, but this wasn't a problem logic could solve. Virgil made up his mind. He dialed Patton's number. Dean's voice answered. Virgil silently cursed the fact that Patton didn't have a phone, but his family's home phone would have to do.

 

  "Can I talk to Patton?", Virgil asked.

 

  Virgil could _almost_ hear Dean's smirk. "I don't know, can you?"

 

  "Don't test me. You're like twelve."

 

  Dean's reply was snappy. It sounded like he was slightly out of breath. "I'm almost fourteen. You're one to talk.  Most twelve-year-old's are taller than you."

 

  "You sound like you're out of breath. Did you just get done running away from the truth?"

 

  Before Dean could reply, Patton's voice interrupted him in the background. "Who are you talking to?"

 

  "Oh, just my human organs dealer," said Dean. Patton grabbed for the phone. Dean held on, then tossed it up in the air. It dropped to the floor as Dean ran up the stairs.

 

  "Dang it," Patton said. "I can never catch." Virgil smiled at hearing his friend's voice. Knowing Patton was okay made this just a bit better.

 

"Hello?" Patton was still adjusting his hands around the old phone.

 

"It's Virgil. Can I, uh, talk to you?"

 

  Patton was delighted to finally hear from one of his friends. "Sure thing." He walked to the living room. Patton turned off the TV and sat down. "What do you need?"

 

  Virgil paused. He assumed Patton and Dean were home alone. He would've been able to hear their parents. "How are things with your dad?"

 

  "Oh, they're...," Patton's voice trailed off. It came back softer and sadder. "Still not the greatest, but what can you do?"

 

  "Are you-"

 

  "Things have been rough. I've made it this far. I'd like to talk to you though. It'll be a good distraction, and maybe I can help."

 

  Virgil was unsure of how to continue. Very awkwardly, he said, "Do you know what roses taste like?"

 

  "I can't say I do." Patton thought harder. "Do you?"

 

  "I don't like them. At least these don't have thorns." Patton was quiet after Virgil spoke.

 

  "You too?", he asked. Virgil thought about it. He guessed Patton might have Hanahaki, but it still hurt to know for sure.

 

  "Me too." Virgil sounded... guilty. He knew Patton wouldn't judge him... but still.

 

  Patton's Dad Friend impulses radiated through the phone call. He got up from the couch and began to pace around the room.

 

  "Did you drink enough water?"

 

  "Yeah," Virgil said.

 

  "You should drink lots of water before and after the flowers come up. You need to stay hydrated."

 

  "Got it." Virgil flopped over on his bed, phone still in hand.

 

  "That's very important. Maybe have some tea or a pop sometimes. Whatever makes your throat feel better." 

 

  "Pat, what makes you feel better, you know, after it happens?", Virgil asked.

 

  "I like to eat something sweet, though we don't keep things like that around the house. I would listen to music, but all the songs I like-"

 

"Remind me of him," both of them said at once. Patton let out a light laugh.

 

  "Yeah. I  go outside. When it's late, I'll go on our back porch and watch fireflies. You  can do a lot of things to calm yourself down."

 

  "Can you stop the flower before they come up?", Virgil asked. He was hopeful he could shove the roses down his throat and forget about them.

 

  "Oh no, big nope on that one. I tried. They'll just come out anyway, possibly through your nose."

 

   Virgil winced. "Ouch."

 

  "Big ouch." Patton nodded, even though he knew Virgil couldn't see him. A soft buzzing came into his ears.

 

  "Thanks for your help." 

 

  "No problem. I'll email you some milkshake recipes so you can get that taste out your mouth, that sound like a plan?"

 

  Virgil smiled. "It sure does. I could invite you over and we could try them out together." He offered it as a way for Patton to get out of the house.

 

  "That would be so much fun! I am getting tired of the flavor of Forget-Me-Not flowers always on my tongue." Patton would very much appreciate a milkshake. 


	4. Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this a vent chapter based on real events? You bet. I have lots of feelings. Feel free to skip this chapter if you think it will upset you. This chapter contains crying.

  Patton should've known better. It was about 8:30 at night, and he sat on the couch with his laptop in front of him. His parents were in their nightwear; Dean was in his room. Patton blinked when a surprising message came onto his screen. He opened it up. It was a message from one of his classmates.  

 

_"Hey what are you up to? I’m with some friends and we wanted to know if you just wanted to hang out. If it’s too late we can always hang out tomorrow"_

 

  A lump of excitement and nervousness built in Patton's chest. "Who are you talking to?," his mother asked. She leaned over to get a look at his screen. She read the message and shook her head. "This late at night? No. Tell them you can't." Patton felt the ball in his chest tighten. This was the first time since Virgil's call anyone reached out to him, and he was tired of being lonely.

 

  "They did say they could hang out tomorrow," he said.

 

  His mother noticed the hope in his voice. She sat up in her chair. "What would you do? Where is this?"

 

  "Just hang out, I think. I assume at their house."

 

  "Fine. If you find out more, you can maybe go tomorrow."

 

  Patton smiled.  _"I can't tonight, but I'd love to hang out tomorrow!"_ This classmate had made a habit of excluding him from things. The thought that they wanted to have him around caused a mix of hesitation and excitement. Patton just wanted to get out of the house. 

 

  " _Ok. How about 7?"_

 

Upon hearing the new message, Patton's mom leaned over her son and read it. "Where? They still haven't said where you're going or what you're doing."

 

  "We'll figure it out," Patton said. His mother complained some more as he sent the next message.

 

  " _That would work, at your house?_

 

 

 _"We’ll pick you up. We’ll probably drive around."_   What harm could come out of being in a car? Patton knew he could get out if something happened. He would be careful.

 

 

__   "Okay, sounds like a plan! Thanks for offering to pick me up!" _ _

__

_   "Yep." _

  The next morning, Patton woke up with a little burst of extra excitement and nervousness. He changed into nicer clothes after he finished doing his outside chores. He wanted to look nice, but not like he was trying too hard. All the exclamation points in his messages must have given away that he was excited. He cursed the frizzziness of his hair as he tried to fix it.

  _"_ _We might pick you up a little bit before 7."_

_"Okay, thanks for the heads up."_

_"Yep."_  

  The message came a little before lunch. Patton felt less nervous, less like something could be pulled out from under him at the last second. He was still a little nervous about what might happen, but the prospect of having a good time made him thrilled for something as simple as a drive. These people hadn't been the nicest to him in the past, but maybe things would be different. Maybe Patton didn't have to feel like a burden. After all, they reached out to him. It was bizarre. Patton felt like he was bugging his friends whenever he reached out to them. This could put him back in his groove!

_"I’m sorry we can’t hang out tonight  One of us isn’t able to."_

  Do you know that feeling where you have something you really want to buy, but it's sold out when you get to the store? That's how Patton felt, but worse. He assigned so much meaning to this. Now his chance was gone. He shook his his head. These things happen. It was no use being upset about it. It was no use.

 

 That didn't keep him from being upset.   _"Oh,"_ he said. " _Ok."_  He wasn't angry at his classmates. He was angry with himself.

  When he told his mother, she sighed. "They were probably just trying to make someone else jealous anyway." That didn't make him feel any better. Patton went on with his day for a little while, the lump in his chest slowly turned into pressure behind his eyes. His mother came to him with the phone. She shoved it into his hands. His father's voice was on the other end.

  "What happened?," he said, sounding thoroughly uninterested in what Patton had to say.

  "They cancelled on me."

  His father grunted. Country music played loudly in the background. No one spoke for a minute.

  The following conversation made Patton feel worse. He placed the phone on the coffee table without hanging it up. He walked to the upstairs restroom, closing the door softly behind him. He didn't know what his father wanted. He wasn't ready to face him right now.

 

 

  Patton let tears slide down his cheeks. Each time he came up for a breath after hiccuping, he felt a little worse and a bit better. Patton was a fool to think that anything could be different. His parents weren't going to comfort him. His father wasn't going to be understanding. His mother wasn't going to know what to say. She opened the bathroom door as he cried. "Are you crying? It's fine. Something came up. At least they let you know." Patton nodded. She wasn't helping, but his mother continued to stare at him. Every time he cried, he felt guilt for his emotions. That only caused him to cry more. He hated it.

 

 

  She eventually left, leaving the door open. She walked down the stairs. Patton should've known better. This summer wasn't going well for him so far. Why would any of that change? He couldn't expect to suddenly be wanted. The flowers in the back of his throat were there to remind him that people didn't feel the same way about him as he did about them. Patton needed to stop feeling so much. He blotted his tears off his face, but they wouldn't stop coming. He slowly walked over to the door and shut it. His feelings didn't make sense! It was okay to be disappointed, but this was tearing away at him. Patton sat down on a folding chair near the sink. He could hear his mother's footsteps downstairs. Patton's breathing slowed. The tense feeling in his chest lessened.

 

 

  The tears kept coming; that was okay. Maybe this was one of those things he just had to wait out. It was obvious to him now that he couldn't stop himself from being upset. He could acknowledge it. He let his tears and emotions run their course. That felt so much better than attempting to hold them back. He did feel too much, and that was okay.


	5. Behind a Screen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman turns to the most reliable place for guidance... the internet. He isn't the only one searching for answers.

 Roman scrolled through an app he recently downloaded. It was meant to be a support app for those with Hanahaki. There were channels for helping others cope with both the physical and emotional strains the disease left them with. Though the subject matter was serious, Roman found the mood of the app generally positive and cheerful. He spent the last few days checking out what the app had to offer. He scrolled up to reread something.

 

 One post caught his attention. It was written in an oddly formal way. The user that posted it had an icon of a painting of space. It seemed they wrote more like a business letter than a social media post. The user didn't have Hanahaki, but they were researching it. No one responded to them, so Roman decided to.

 

  _"I could help you if you want."_

 

The reply came a little while later.

 

  _"Excellent. I'm looking forward to the insight your unique experiences may provide."_

 

The moved to private messages. Roman wasn't comfortable using his real name in this situation. Trying to think of a name he could use in its place, his eyes were drawn to the tin he kept his flowers on his bedside table.

 

_"You can call me Hart. What should I call you?"_

 

* * *

 

 

Logan looked at his screen. He didn't know what to say his name was. He hesitated to give this stranger his actual name, so he looked around his room for inspiration. His eyes landed on a book of legends his friends gave him last Christmas. He felt guilty for not reading it yet. He suspected they purchased it because it had so many pages, though the fantastical nature of the stories wasn't his usual taste.

 

_"Arthur."_

 

Hart seemed to be typing an extensive message, deleting it, writing it again, then deleting it. His response finally came.

 

_"Like the aardvark?"_

 

Logan chuckled.  _"Sure,"_ he typed, _"Like the aardvark."_

 

Hart sent him a link to a Youtube video. Logan clicked on it, expecting to be Rickrolled. This was worse.

 

 The Arthur theme song on a ten hour loop.

 

 This was going to be the kind of stuff Hart would contribute to his research? Logan was amused and curious. This was going to make his project interesting.

 

 Hart was typing again. Logan braced himself for whatever would come.

 

_"You know how you said you were interesting on unique stuff I could offer? I umm... I live in Sanders."_

 

 Logan wasn't expecting that. He slowly messaged him back.

 

  _"So do I."_

 

 

 

 


	6. Virgil Destroys the Kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil attempts to bake a cake. Key word: attempts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter once before and it deleted itself. Internally screaming is the best.

 The weather was abnormally cool the day Virgil decided to rummage around the kitchen. In the back of the cupboard, he found a stack of locally-published recipe books. He ran his hand over the dusty cover of one that especially interested him. It was a Hanahaki themed recipe book, something he doubted would be found anywhere other than Sanders. The book had recipes from several years ago. Some included the names of those who sent them in. Most preferred to be anonymous. Virgil read the years the recipes were sent in. This town had had this problem for a long time, hadn't it? He flipped through pages of instructions on how to make hot drinks and icy desserts. Tidbits of wisdom were included on the bottom of some of the pages. There was even a section of recipes dedicated to holidays. Virgil noticed Valentine's day was missing.

 

 Many of the featured foods were considered town classics. Virgil recognized numerous dishes that made their way out of the Hanahaki niche and into general special occasions. One such example was Garden Hearts cake. Local legend had it the sweet dessert got its name from a society of Hanahaki Disease sufferers who were prominent members of the community when the town was founded. Virgil noticed he had all the ingredients the recipe required. It couldn't be that hard. The modern version of the recipe used a store bought cake mix. Virgil started up a playlist he put together earlier. He preheated  the oven, placing his phone on the counter. Virgil read the recipe carefully. Then he read it again. He didn't want to mess this up. Despite his hesitation, the cake batter turned out pretty nicely. He made a crumbly topping for the cake. Virgil then prepared ingredients to mix in. These were meant to soothe a sore throat, though it was debatable if this was based on facts or not. He occasionally tasted bits of his ingredients to mix them in the right amounts. Virgil poured his mixture into a greased pan. He slid the pan into the oven. The pan did look like a tad overfilled. Virgil was sure it would be fine.

 

It was not.

 

When Virgil came back into the kitchen he noticed a disaster inside the oven. The cake had baked over the confines of the pan. No, that was an understatement. The cake looked like something trying to fit where it was not designed to fit, an alligator in a fish bowl. Slowly, as if the blob would jump out and swallow him, Virgil opened the oven. He poked the cake's center with a toothpick. It needed to bake longer. There was no saving it now. 

 

 Virgil found the one part of the recipe he forgot to read. The recipe made  _two_ cakes. He accidentally doubled it. When the cake was done, Virgil took it out of the oven. He turned the oven off. After his cake cooled, Virgil put his crumble on top. He chuckled to himself. As messed up as his cake was, he still applied the topping with the precision of a master chef. He took a picture of his masterpiece. Smiling at his attempt, he sent it out with the caption, "Look at what I made."


	7. Anonymity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman finds a new creative outlet. He didn't think anyone else would notice.

  Roman pressed his forehead on the cool glass of the car window. His parents had been driving for hours. Between the numerous stops they took to switch who was behind the wheel,  he had time to think. Ever since he started talking to Arthur on that Hanahaki app, he viewed the disease differently. He stopped seeing it in a romanticized light quite a while ago. It was a recent change of heart that made him realize he wasn't alone in his suffering. 

 

  Technically, he had always known that. The common nature of Hanahaki Disease in his home town made it more normalized to him than most. Despite this, no one outside spaces meant for discussions about the disease really talked about it. When he looked it up, he only found a handful of videos pertaining to it. Which was weird. A considerable number of people went through it at least for a short while. It didn't make sense the there were no vlogs or clickbait-y personal stories. According to Arthur, firsthand accounts were hard to come by.

 

 Roman's mother asked him if he was carsick. He told her he was fine, if not a little tired. He must have been dozing off. She comforted him with the knowledge that their destination wasn't far away. 

 

  They were going to their family's old vacation home for the weekend. Roman had packed plenty of things to keep him occupied. He hadn't been to the cabin since he was young. He couldn't recall what was around.

 

  The car parked. Roman helped unhaul the bags from the back of the vehicle. His father carried one of Roman's totes: a bag full of supplies pertaining to his Hanahaki Disease. Roman was glad he didn't have to explain his Hanahaki to his parents. They just figured it out. They were accepting when he came out, so he figured he could tell them anything. His dad had Hanahaki in college. He understood. Most of the time. 

 

  When everything was unpacked, Roman took to exploring the cabin. It was really property of his aunt, who invited family to stay in it whenever they wanted. Familiarity from his childhood stays here came back to Roman. The smell of the garden in the back, the smooth surface of the hardwood under his feet; he remembered sliding up and down these floors in his socks. He would have to try that later. For now, he went back to the garden. Various floral scents put him at ease. 

 

 It was just like a scene from a storybook; it looked like a watercolor illustration. Roman walked on the cobblestone path. It brought him to a swing with ivy growing up the side. Inspiration struck him. Roman dashed back into the house. He grabbed the bag he packed with art supplies. He went to the garden, and sat down on the oversized swing. He opened a page in his sketchbook. 

 

 Roman began recording video with his phone. He sketched the flowers and features of the garden. When he was done, he showed his sketch and some angles of the plants around him. Roman put text over his video, describing his experiences with Hanahaki Disease. The video didn't show any more of him than his hands. He considered adding music to it, but the quietness and occasional birdsong on the video served its purpose. 

 

 He uploaded the video to the Hanahaki app first. Within minutes, he had comments and response. After testing the waters there, he uploaded it to YouTube. His notifications exploded.


	8. Familiarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil finds something oddly familiar in a YouTube video.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a vague mention of Remus in this chapter. I'm not sure if I'm going to introduce him to the main plot or not.

Nearly everyone in Sanders had seen it: the viral, aesthetically-pleasing video sharing an anonymous person's story of Hanahaki Disease. Virgil watched it a couple of days after it was uploaded. One of his classmates shared the video to their class group chat. It was acknowledged, then buried among fresh-off-the press memes and vacation updates. But Virgil kept coming back to watch that video. Something about it was bothering him. He couldn't figure out why. 

 

That was until he woke up in the middle of the night, struck by the realization that he'd been to where the video was taken. That garden- it took him some time to pin down exactly where it was. Then he remembered the week he spent on vacation with Roman's family. 

 

It was the summer before their freshman year. Roman had been quieter than usual, heavily affected by the fact that his twin brother had been sent to a place meant to deal with "troubled children". His parents noticed he was becoming withdrawn, so they encouraged him to invite a friend to come with them on a getaway to their family's cabin. Roman invited Virgil. Despite his fear of embarrassing himself in front of Roman, he accepted. On the car ride to the cabin, Virgil went over all the worst case scenarios he could in his head. What if he made Roman upset? What if he was really boring to hang out with without any of their other friends there? What if Roman's parents didn't like him? Did Roman invite him out of pity? What if he brought him here to friend-break-up with him?

 

Virgil's worries faded when they got settled in the cabin. Roman led him by the hand, exploring everything. They hid notes written in a secret code around the house. Roman and Virgil competed to see who could slide the longest distance in their socks. Virgil won, but Roman made sure to remind him of his prowess at being Extra by adding ice-skating moves and dramatic flourishes to his attempts. Roman was the happiest he'd been since the whole ordeal with his brother. Virgil was the happiest he'd _ever_ been. 

 

His feelings for Roman started to become more romantic, but it was nothing he couldn't ignore. He knew that they'd hang out surrounded by the rest of their friends most of the time, and he was okay with that.

 

The last day of their time together in the cabin, Roman took Virgil out to the garden. They sat on the bench and talked about nothing in particular. Virgil recalled the way the summer sunshine illuminated the plants in the garden, the way it lit up Roman's hands as they doodled in his sketchbook. 

 

The same hands Virgil saw in the video. The same bench, the same garden.

 

What kind of mess had Roman gotten himself into?


	9. Past and Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan researches the historical roots of Hanahaki Disease in Sanders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are mentions of an unhealthy family situation in the last paragraph. Skip it if you need to. Instead of vent chapters, I've condensed it down to a vent paragraph this time. This time. 
> 
> I'm sending my thoughts to everyone else who might be in a tough situation because of school being cancelled due to the coronavirus. We're going to get through this.

Logan removed the highlighter tucked behind his ear. He took the cap off with his thumb, and underlined two words in a copy of an old newspaper article: Garden Hearts. Those two words showed up frequently in his Hanahaki Disease research. They were mentioned in everything from scholarly pieces to stories about town history. That was it. Mentioned. Logan only had vague references to the Garden Hearts. He had no idea who the members were. It was as if everyone in Sanders once considered the existence of the Garden Hearts common knowledge, and then (Logan knew it sounded like a far-fetched conspiracy theory) tried to hide that knowledge. 

 

 Pages ripped out of town history books, the eagerness of elderly members of the community to change the subject whenever Garden Hearts was brought up; all of it seemed suspicious. Logan was intrigued and frustrated. He drew a large question mark above the phrase he highlighted. Good thing this was a copy. Logan wouldn't write notes on an original document like this. The local librarian thoughtfully made copies of any Hanahaki- related articles she could find after their talk. 

 

That's who he could ask! Logan dialed the library's number quickly. The librarian picked up almost immediately. When Logan asked if she had any information about the Garden Hearts, the librarian's voice took on a hushed tone. 

"That was before my time. I don't know much, but-," her voice became even quieter. "I do know some of the locations they would meet. I think there were five in total. I know two."

 

Logan wrote the addresses she gave him. He thanked her. He stared at the sticky note the addresses were written on. Was it- no, it couldn't be- Patton's address? Logan folded the note and slipped it into his pocket. He let his father know he'd be using the car before he left. His father gave him the okay, and he was off. 

 

Logan drove past Hanahaki Field, over the hill, figuring out where exactly the address was pointing to down to the coordinates. According to his calculations, it should be in the middle of a battle field; that was, on Patton's family's property, near the grain barn. Logan considered getting out of his car. 

 

Dean ran out of the house. Patton followed. Their father stomped after them. His face was bright red as if he was holding his breath. He screamed at his sons through clenched teeth. Patton stepped closer to Dean. Dean saw Logan and motioned as subtly as he could for Logan to go. Logan drove away. This provided a distraction for Patton and Dean's father. He waved his arms at Logan's vehicle. His sons scrambled back inside.

 

When he was sure their father didn't see enough of his vehicle to identify it, Logan drove off to the side of the dirt road. He walked to Hanahaki Field. He stood among the flowers and stared. Not _observed,_ not even  _looked._ He just... stared.

**Author's Note:**

> I had way too much fun thinking up different appearances for the sides in this AU. Patton being ace may or may not be me self-projecting.
> 
> My tumblr is wecametobealonetogether
> 
> If you want to chat over there, please do!
> 
> Tell me about anything you're working on. Show me pictures of your pets! I would appreciate it all.


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